Multiple homes hit by lightning; Brings hidden danger to homeowners

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo (KMOV.com) -- The storm system moving through the St. Louis region produced thousands of lightning strikes that hit homes all over the region.

News 4 received reports that homes in St. Louis, Dupo, Cottleville, Wentzville, O'Fallon, St. Peters and St. Charles were hit by lightning.

Firefighters told News 4 there’s a hidden danger when a house is struck.

If lightning hits the roof of a house, it goes racing through the home to get to the ground. It can fry the wiring and start a fire that will smolder without the resident even knowing.

A bolt of lightning is to blame for a fire that caused thousands of dollars of damage to a home in St. Charles.

A neighbor said the strike caught her attention right away.

“We were in the kitchen and I heard some very loud lightning and thunder and they were almost simultaneous and I thought wow, that was close,” said Kim Paniucki.

Moments later she smelled smoke and when she walked out of her home she saw flames shooting out of the roof.

While fire from the lightning strike quickly took off, fire officials warned an attic fire can sometimes smolder and won’t be detected until much later.

“If it’s a fire in the attic a lot of people don’t have smoke detectors in their attic so fire could be smoldering up there for a while and you might now know it until a neighbor comes over and knocks on your door,” said St. Charles Fire Captain Dan Casey.

News 4 talked with another couple whose home was struck by lightning.

While a fire didn’t break out, they say it fried four television sets in their home, along with some other appliances.